Trayvon Martin And The Irony Of American Justice  —  In trying to assess the the killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, two seemingly conflicted truths emerge for me.  The first is that is that based on the case presented by the state, and based on Florida law, George Zimmerman …

McCain Suggests Letting GOP Pick Nominees  —  Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said he and Republicans are trying to strike a deal with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to avoid his threat of triggering the “nuclear option” and would either allow up-or-down votes on seven contentious nominees or at least find …

Senate Control in 2014 Increasingly Looks Like a Tossup  —  This weekend's announcement by the former governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer, that he would not seek that state's Democratic nomination for Senate represents the latest in a series of favorable developments for Republicans as they seek control of the chamber.

MSNBC crushed in Zimmerman ratings race  —  MSNBC's ratings woes came into sharp relief on Monday with the release of the preliminary numbers for the Zimmerman verdict.  —  In the 10-11 p.m. hour on Saturday night, when the verdict in, Fox News had 3,682,000 total viewers …

Teens chase kidnapping suspect on bikes, save 5-year-old girl  —  (CNN) — Two teenage boys are being hailed as heroes after they chased a car carrying a kidnapped girl — on their bicycles.  —  Five-year-old Jocelyn Rojas was playing in her front yard in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, when she vanished Thursday afternoon.

McDonalds Tells Workers To Budget By Getting A Second Job And Turning Off Their Heat  —  McDonalds has partnered with Visa to launch a website to help its low-wage workers making an average $8.25 an hour to budget.  But while the site is clearly meant to illustrate that McDonalds workers …

House GOP's endgame on immigration: Do nothing? … This is why the critical question remains: Is there anything that can get a majority of House Republicans to support a path to citizenship under any circumstances?  If there isn't, then there is no percentage for those House Republicans …

Wendy Davis Raises Nearly $1 Million … State Sen. Wendy Davis, the new star of the Texas Democratic Party, raised nearly $1 million in the final two weeks of June, much of it from small donors who sent her money after she launched her famous filibuster of a restrictive abortion bill, her campaign will reveal Monday.

Ex-Fiancee Urges Filner To Submit Resignation  —  Says Sexually Explicit Messages To Other Women Led To Separation  —  The ex-fiancee of beleaguered San Diego Mayor Bob Filner says she ended her relationship with him because he became increasingly abusive toward her and began sending sexually …

Jenny McCarthy officially named ‘The View’ co-host  —  Done deal: Jenny McCarthy is joining The View.  —  The comedian-actress will fill one of the open slots on ABC's popular daytime talk show this fall.  —  Longtime The View fans already have some sense of what she's like on the panel.

And they're off: 2016 has already started  —  The shorter campaign cycle is dead.  Long live 2016.  —  Barely eight months removed from the 2012 presidential saga, super PACs are sprouting to buck up Hillary Clinton, and GOP hopefuls are already hitting the early-state circuit — and attempting to woo donors.

Rick Perry: Back for more in 2016?  —  AUSTIN — As he exited the 2012 Republican presidential race last year, Texas Gov. Rick Perry uttered a memorable assessment of his performance: “It was the weakest Republican field in history, and they kicked my butt!”  Yet, he might be coming back for more in 2016.

Russia's Putin: signs Snowden is shifting on the U.S.  —  (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he saw signs that Edward Snowden, the former U.S. spy agency contractor turned fugitive secrets leaker, was shifting towards stopping “political activity” directed against the United States.

Can History Be Restarted?  —  The Daniel Johnson article on “The Decline and Fall of the History Men” linked here in our picks section yesterday deserves additional reflection.  Johnson laments the fact that no one writes “big history” in the style of Gibbon, Macaulay, or (more recently) Trevor-Roper.